The Lost Soul of the Manor
by Blonde Panther
Summary: FE13. Despite overwhelming numbers, the Shepherds are succeeding in ridding an old manor of Risen presence and saving the young Dragon girl within. That is, until their chief tactician becomes overconfident in who she sends to deal with what... Rated for character death.


**Disclaimer:** I do not, nor will I ever, own Fire Emblem. All is property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Chrom, Robin, Morgan.  
><strong>Pairings:<strong> Chrom/Robin.  
><strong>Warnings:<strong> Character death.

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><p>As if an old and decrepit manor wasn't dangerous enough, Chrom thought, of course it had to be haunted, with portions of the walls just collapsing and magically rebuilding themselves at random intervals. And of course, it wouldn't be this Naga-damned WAR if it hadn't been infested with Risen. He ran forward and buried Falchion hilt-deep in the one holding a purple-covered tome, which he suspected was the one who had been outright pelting him with dark magic ever since he'd set foot in the building.<p>

"Morgan!" Robin called next to him, drawing his attention. "Take out the one with the axe before he gets Lissa!" He looked up, just in time to see a young boy with dark blue hair raise his hand as a sign that he understood the order. He took off after that, opening a tome as he ran towards where Lissa was, indeed, approached by a large, axe-wielding Risen.

"Maybe I should go instead," he said, backing up so he and the tactician stood back-to-back as they surveyed the field.

"Don't worry," she said, glancing over her shoulder to flash him a smile. "He takes after his father." Chrom turned away, both to avoid his wife's amusement at his flushed cheeks and to address the issue of a Risen on a black horse riding towards them. He dropped Falchion to free up his hands and instead drew the long, thin sword still sheathed around his waist, but before he could thrust with it, Robin had already finished her incantation and sent a large bolt of thunder magic hurtling in the direction of the animated corpse. It fell off-horse, where Chrom leapt down on it, thrusting the rapier through its chest and waiting until it dissolved before he got back up and turned to Robin.

She looked good, for how long they had spent in here fighting what seemed to be an infinite army of corpses that had been brought to life by Grima's spiritual presence or somesuch nonsense. Her black hair had come loose from its ponytail, framing her sweat-stroked face, but she was largely unharmed; he had done most of the hit-taking for her. She was a mage, anyway- she didn't have to get within sword range of the enemy to dish out the pain. Chrom smiled at her, both reassuringly and reassured, and pinched at a cut he had taken in his arm earlier. Looked like the Fire Emblem wasn't a foolproof shield if a Risen managed to stab its lance next to it.

He looked around the battlefield once more, or at least, the part of it that wasn't blocked from his view. Not far from him, having just finished incinerating a small group of Risen with dragon fire, was Nah, the little blonde Manakete they'd found in here. Vaike had felt the need to hover around her like he did around Nowi, and Chrom had let him- Vaike was tough, and despite knowing Nah was a bloody DRAGON, he preferred to see the axeman take hits. Lucina hadn't seen her yet, but Chrom assumed that after the battle, he'd learn that Nah was one of the people who had come into this era with the older version of his daughter; it had been the same with Cynthia, Laurent, and arguably Morgan.

Anna skipped into his field of vision, her arms full of weapons and treasure Chrom figured she had looted from what had remained of the coffers of the manor. He didn't even care. Larceny was a crime, yes, but the owner of this place was clearly long dead. And if he hadn't been, he would be now; they had combed most of the place and found no survivors. He clearly recognized at least one long, curved sword in her arms. What use was a killing edge laying around in a ruin? They could put it to use, and really, no one was going to complain if they were going to use it to destroy the Fell Dragon and his followers.

Between Miriel incinerating a heavily armoured Risen from the back of Frederick's horse, Cynthia and Sumia ganging up on another dark mage, and Lissa rushing to the safety of Maribelle's horse, Chrom let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. He knew he couldn't see everyone from him. But he had just confirmed Robin was alright, and fighting behind him were only about three people that he knew would be fine. Lucina and Laurent's combined efforts made them into a killing machine, and Morgan was—

His heart stopped and he was certain he was under some sort of spell. How else would he explain the fact that time passed at maybe a quarter of its usual speed when he turned around, responding to a blood-curdling scream that came from the direction of…

When he had finally turned around, he found himself just in time to see his future son fall back from the axeman he had been fighting, blood gushing from his chest. Another scream echoed through the manor, in a voice not too dissimilar to Morgan's own, and it took a few seconds before Chrom realized that it came from himself. "MORGAN!" The moment Morgan hit the ground with an unremarkable bounce, time resumed at its normal pace and Chrom dropped everything –Falchion, his rapier, the Fire Emblem, everything- to get to the boy's side.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Robin charging headlong into the Risen and sending the most enormous thunderbolt he had ever seen into the thing's skull. On his other side, he saw Lucina turning around and heard her add a feral cry to the chilling sounds of the past minute, before plunging herself into the remaining Risen alongside her mother. Chrom didn't have the strength to avenge the boy, only falling to his knees next to him and putting one hand on his face. He was still warm. "Morgan…"

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><p>"<em>Urgh! M-My head!"<em>

_He leapt up, stepping forward to get within range and put his hand on Morgan's shoulder. "Careful," he reminded him, "Don't force it or I'll have to subject you to the overprotective doting of your aunt." When Morgan remained quiet, and his eyes shut, the prince's curiosity got the better of him. "Did you remember something?"_

"_Y-yeah, I think so." Chrom nodded and smiled, glad to hear that some of the boy's memories were coming back to him. Morgan remembered Robin as his mother, which meant Chrom had to be his father; Lucina backed his story, confirming she had a brother named Morgan, about two years younger than herself. However, Morgan didn't remember him, Lucina, Ylisse, OR Grima, only Robin. It was concerning to Chrom, but slowly but surely things were coming back to the kid._

_He was about to leave it at that, but then Morgan grabbed on to his sleeve. "I… It was you," he said, looking up at him. "Just like last time. You were older, and calling me from a dozen feet away, but I know it was you, dad."_

_Dad. Morgan didn't call him that often, unlike Lucina. Every time he did, it invariably brought a smile to his face, and this time was no different. "Don't rush it, son," he said. "It'll come back to you eventually."_

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><p>He had no idea how long he sat on his knees next to Morgan, while Robin and Lucina presumably violently slaughtered whatever had remained of the Risen in this manor. However, he finally forced himself into motion, reaching over the boy and gathering up his limp, bleeding body before getting to his feet. He turned around, and saw Vaike stepping back, out of his way, when he took off towards a certain white horse.<p>

"Lissa!" He called, "Maribelle!" Both blondes immediately turned to him, Lissa clasping her hands over her mouth. Maribelle didn't, having her hands full of reins and a staff, but the horror on her face was evident. Chrom knew how wild he had to look right now, in his blind panic, but he didn't care. "Please," he said, "You have to help him!" They were their healers. They had to do something. Surely if they worked together, they could save him…

Maribelle's horse snorted and stepped back, its rider turning it around and letting it walk away before it would act erratically. Lissa stayed, lowering her hands and looking at her brother with the same frightened expression he'd seen on Maribelle. "Chrom, I…" she started. "T-there's nothing we can do for him."

"No!" Chrom shouted. By now he had the full intention of the entire army present, but he didn't care. She didn't understand- she had to do something! "Lissa, please! What do you want me to do?! Do you want me to beg?!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't have to turn around to know the firm grip belonged to Frederick. "My lord," the knight said solemnly, "I am sorry. Princess Lissa can't help him. There is nothing that can be done for him."

Somewhere, Chrom had already known this. He just needed to hear it from his retainer to believe it. He felt his knees hitting the ground hard as he cradled his son's body tightly.

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><p>"<em>You taught me swordplay," Morgan said, two fingers pressing hard against his forehead as if that would trigger something. "And I learnt tactics and magic from Mom."<em>

"_Have you ever tried to wield Falchion?" Chrom sat on his cot in his tent, with Morgan cross-legged on the ground in front of him. Morgan shook his head._

"_Not in the future."_

"_Not that you remember?"_

"_No, I haven't used it period. I remember that you always had it on you until… well. You know." He frowned. "I… don't remember the exact moment Lucina got it though…"_

"_Hey." Chrom clapped his hands together to snap the boy back to reality. "Let's not dwell on what you CAN'T remember. Take another look at what we have."_

_Morgan sighed, dropping his hand and reaching for a small book. Chrom knew he'd been writing down anything he remembered and liked to look over it in case it could trigger something else. "…thanks again, Dad. I probably wouldn't have remembered half of this stuff if you hadn't helped me."_

_Chrom smiled. "Anytime. Actually, let's give it a rest for today. We've been at it for hours again. Your mother is going to wonder why we're missing dinner."_

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><p>Hours later, he sat at camp with his face in his hand. Frederick had taken Morgan's body from him, and he had retired to his tent shaking and in tears. He had tried and failed not to cry, and no one had bothered him since the return to camp. He added his second hand to his face, just before hearing the tent flap being struck back. "Chrom…"<p>

Robin's warm arms wrapped around him and he felt her face against him. He looked up, seeing her, too, in tears. Deciding that misery liked company, he returned her embrace, putting her head to his chest and his own face into her shoulder. "How is Lucina holding up?" he asked, wanting to say something else but feeling their daughter took precedence.

"She's… holding up. I think Laurent's trying to…" she trailed off, sobbing. Chrom could no longer restrain himself.

"He'd just started to remember," he said. "He'd just started to fucking REMEMBER."

"I know," she said, holding him a little tighter. "I know…"

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><p><em><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> This is actually based on true experiences. I have no idea HOW I pulled it off, but somehow I managed to get to a single-digit number of remaining enemies on Nah's paralogue, and then have MORGAN of all characters die. This scene immediately popped into my head and I knew I had to write it.  
><em>

_...BUT HOW DID MORGAN DIE?!_


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